the betrothal contract
by ultimate emperor
Summary: the old marriage contract story but this time with Ron as the victim/ lucky guy
1. Chapter 1

The old man stared at the document in his hand. He felt faintly amused as he studied the document, "this little act will bring about a lot of trouble dear brother" the man spoke into the empty room, "Well I guess there _are _worse families to marry into" the man got up from his seat. He had to return to England.

**XXXXXXX**

Ron was sitting in his room, staring out of the window. He had been told by his parents to not tell Harry about anything that was going on due to fear of interception of the letter; he didn't really have much to talk to Hermione about either.

Hermione was a great friend but she got on Ron's nerves a lot, hell the only reason they were still friends was because Harry always served as the mediator. Last year though, Ron had seen her all dressed up during the Yule ball and had felt a bit attracted, but had come to his senses about her. Hermione would always be one of his closest friends but he doubted he would ever be able to date her.

"Ron, come down here for a moment" Ron heard his mother call and sighed as he walked down into the living room. "Come into the study room for a moment" his mother called nervously peeking from the doorway of the study.

"_Why is she so nervous?" _Ron wondered as he walked into the study to see his parents and another man. The man was dressed in navy blue formal robes with a cane in his hand, he had grey hair and a pale face, he looked in his early sixties, but his piercing blue eyes that put Ron in mind of someone younger. He also had an aristocratic air about him that put Ron in his guard.

"Hello Ron" the man greeted him before anyone could say anything. His voice had a slight lilt to it.

"Hello..." Ron left it hanging hoping the man would introduce himself but instead his father spoke up. "Ron! This is my uncle, Marcus Weasley"

Ron knew that name "the one who moved to America?" he asked looking between his parents.

"The very same" the man replied smiling at Ron as an awkward silence descended which was filled in by Mr. Weasley "uncle Marcus here had been looking through some of dad's old documents that had been given to him and found one that comes into effect soon"

"Okay" Ron said slowly feeling a sense of dread creeping upon him "it's a marriage contract" Uncle Marcus spoke up, making Ron stare at him "aren't those things of the past?"

Uncle Marcus nodded "yes but this contract was made by my brother in 1934. Back then marriage contracts were still normal in the wizarding world, my brother made it with his friends for their children, but both of them only had boys, so the marriage contract got forwarded to your generation."

"No!" Ron whispered as the Knut dropped. "Yes" Uncle Marcus replied as he knew Ron finally understood how he tied up into this contract.

"B-but I'm too young to be married, and...And Bill is the eldest in our family; shouldn't he bear the responsibility of the contract?"

"The thing is Ron" Mr. Weasley spoke up "the contract also has a clause which states that if there are multiple children on either side, the one who are closest in age get married, and in this case, both of you are in the same year so you two are betrothed."

"This is fucking insane" Ron whispered overwhelmed, making his mother scowl at him.

"You do not swear Ronald" she told him angrily as Ron stared at her "my whole life is being twisted upside down and all you can think about is my swearing?" his voice turned exasperated in the end as Mrs. Weasley glared at him.

"Ron" Mr. Weasley got his sons attention onto him before his wife could say something "I understand that it's hard for you to take all of this in but we're all here to support you, I know it's a lot to take in so just we'll just give you some time to think on it"

Ron nodded and turned towards the door before turning back "who is it I'm getting married to?" Ron asked and Uncle Marcus answered leaving Ron shocked.

**XXXXXXX**

"Did you just say I'm betrothed to Ronald Weasley?" Daphne Greengrass asked her father her face clearly showing the panic and fear building inside of her.

"Yes! Yes I did" Michael Greengrass answered, sinking into his chair.

Daphne had beautiful blonde hair that cascaded to her chest like her mother Mary Greengrass had, and sea green eyes like her father's. Almost fifteen, she was turning into a beautiful woman with a sharp mind and brilliant magical ability.

But right now Daphne was angry and scared with the prospect of being betrothed.

"It was made by my father with another family to strengthen our bonds" Michael Greengrass explained "my father was a very good friend of that man and made the contract when he was not even married, but both of them only had sons so you have to honour the contract or both your and his magic is voided"

"This is crazy" Daphne threw up her hands "I'm supposed to marry Ronald Weasley of all people? His family is completely anti Slytherin what's more he's a complete idiot and a side kick to Harry Potter."

Michael sighed and said "you barely know him, at least meet him once before forming an opinion about him" Daphne didn't say anything; she just stormed off to her room.

Michael spoke into the empty room "that went better than expected"

**XXXXXXX**

It was late at night and Ron was sitting on the roof of the burrow staring at the night sky. "What do I do?" Ron moaned holding his head in his hands, _"this is fucking insane, how is a guy supposed to deal with this?" _Ron wondered dejected _"I'm being pushed into this contract by other people against my will"_

All of a sudden Ron realised what his best friend had been going through, _"shit!" _Ron thought _"I'm just being pushed into marriage; my best friend is being pushed into a war" _Ron decided that he needed to talk to Harry about both their problems.

"Looks like I'm going to Privet Drive" Ron told himself and climbed down the roof and into his room. "Okay I need to make a plan." He said out loud _"I've been thinking out loud a lot lately" _he noticed before pulling out a piece of parchment.

"Okay what do I need to do?" Ron wondered and began noting it onto the parchment.

_Reach Privet drive and talk to Harry without the order guard on hand noticing._

_Problem: transport, distraction_

Ron briefly considered each of the problems he was facing, he could get to Privet drive by broom as he remembered the way due to him rescuing Harry, but he needed a distraction to avoid detection by the order guard.

Ron packed up some muggle and magical money in a rucksack; he then noticed some of the potion ingredients lying around and got an idea. It took Ron five minutes to brew the needed potion. Ron packed up some food as well as a map and compass for emergency.

Ron exited his room and crept down the stairs, sliding over the railing over the creaky ones, Ron had managed to make it to the first floor landing when the door to the guest room opened and Ron saw Uncle Marcus standing there.

"How did you know I was out here?" Ron whispered to his uncle who had a knowing smile on his face "I heard about you and your friends current situation and came to the same conclusion you did" uncle Marcus told Ron once he had been ushered inside the room.

"Now, what is your plan?" he asked Ron who shrugged "fly over to Little Whinging, distract the guard and enter Harry's room" Ron carefully left out his potions idea.

Uncle Marcus shook his head and handed a pouch to Ron "the local pub will be open now, floo over to 'the fair lady' in Staines market, from there it's just a long walk to Little Whinging" Ron stared at his great uncle in awe.

"You're brilliant" he told him as the man opened the bedroom's window "thank you! Now go!"

Ron climbed out of the window and grabbed onto the trunk of the willow tree in the yard and slid down, he then jogged into the town and reached the local pub in ten minutes.

"Kids aren't allowed" an old wizard behind the counter said when Ron entered "just need to use the floo" Ron said and walked over to the grate before the man could say anything.

"The fair lady" Ron shouted as he threw the powder and was engulfed in emerald flames and went spinning towards his destination. Ron walked out into the grate of another bar and calmly ordered some food to-go as he looked around.

Ron paid for the food parcel and headed to privet drive, determined to meet his best friend, Ron mostly stuck to the back alleys and side lanes to avoid detection. It took him slightly more than a half-hour to reach privet drive, after some dead ends, double backing, trespassing and jumping over walls and fence.

Ron had changed the distraction part of the plan on the way, originally he was going to distract the guard and gain entry, but he had then remembered his father telling him how the guard was to always keep Harry in sight and positioned across the house at nights.

So Ron had stuck to the back alleys and had snuck to the back of the row of houses on the side of the drive where Harry was located. Ron snuck over to no.4 and climbed the fence. He knew he wouldn't have any trouble as he had no ill will towards Harry.

Ron picked the locks how Fred and George had taught him and silently crept into the house. He stood in front of Harry's room and slowly opened the door. He saw that Harry was lying on the bed but also noticed how stiff he was.

"Harry it's me" Ron whispered but Harry didn't budge _"doesn't know if I'm the real Ron or a death eater" _Ron deduced and whispered "you saw your family in the mirror of the erased"

"Ron" Harry whispered as he got out of his bed and gave his friend a man hug. "What are you doing here? Why haven't you been replying to my letters? How did you get here? Why are you here?"

"I finally understand what you're going through" Ron told Harry who fell silent "what?" Harry asked wondering exactly what Ron meant by that statement.

"I'm betrothed" Ron told Harry whose mouth hung open in shock "apparently my grandfather had made a betrothal contract and as my father was a boy as was the heir of the other family, it falls on me"

Harry thought about it for a few moments "why not bill?" he asked Ron who sighed and answered "there is a clause that in case of multiple children, those closest of age shall be betrothed"

There was a minute of silence after which Harry clapped Ron on the shoulder "I'm sorry man" Ron smiled sardonically "and here's the punch line. I'm betrothed to Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin" Harry stared at Ron for a moment before starting to laugh.

"Yeah yeah, it all very funny" Ron complained but Harry wouldn't stop laughing, Ron waited for half a minute before punching Harry on the shoulder making him finally stop laughing.

"Sorry, mate!" Harry apologized "but the situation is just so funny..." Harry shut up seeing the look on Ron's face and decided to move to a more serious topic. "So how's the war effort going?"

Ron turned serious as well "Dumbledore has revived the order of the phoenix, a vigilante group of his from the previous war, the order is keeping tabs on old death eaters, recruiting new members and trying to thwart death eater efforts, there is also always one order member guarding you, right now the guard is standing on the other side of the road staring into this room which is why we haven't turned on the lights."

Harry peeked out of the window and sure enough he noticed a slight distortion in the air on the opposite sidewalk. Harry then turned to Ron and noticed a parcel in his hand, "what's that?" he asked Ron who held it up "fish and chips"

The two boys ate the food in the darkness while Ron explained his plan to harry "that is the worst plan ever" Harry informed Ron who sighed "so it's not very well thought out" Ron conceded

"Not well thought out?" harry repeated in an exasperated fashion "it's a plan relying on luck and only luck"

"You got a better plan?" Ron demanded to which Harry wilted "I thought so" Ron told harry who sighed. "Now go back to bed and pretend to sleep" Ron told harry and crept out of the room. Harry wanted to cry as he pulled up his blanket _"there's no way this plan will work" _the raven haired boy groaned mentally.

Ron crept downstairs and stood in front of the cupboard under the stairs, Ron then began his part of the plan, and he pulled out a wooden tumbler and filled it with the potion he had created at his home, Ron then placed the tumbler in the cupboard under the stairs and set it on fire.

The potion had been a smoke potion used by aurors to create smoke screens but Ron had used a larger quantity to burn the wooden tumbler, if everything went according to plan the tumbler would burn and leave behind a lot of smoke making everyone think that someone was trying to burn the contents of the cupboard. If everything went according to plan.

Ron exited the house the way he had come so that when the order guard noticed the smoke and came rushing into the house they would only see the fire and not Ron. Once Ron escaped from the back door, the wood tumbler was burnt but the fire hadn't stopped, having caught onto the broom as more and more smoke was being produced.

Harry who had been in his room waiting for something to go wrong smelt the smoke in the air , at once he turned on the light in his room and shouted "FIRE!" he then looked out of the window and smirked when he saw mad-eye Moody running across the street.

Harry opened the door of his room and was engulfed in a thick blanket of smoke, _"holy shit, there's a lot of smoke" _he thought as he coughed it out.

"Potter" Harry heard Moody's voice, "come with me quickly" he barked at Harry who pretended to be flabbergasted "what are you doing her professor Moody?" "no time now boy" Moody barked again as he waved his wand and packed up all of Harry's belongings and shrunk it to fit in his pocket.

"Follow me" Moody growled and Harry obeyed him, moody cleared the smoke away with a vanishing spell and harry noticed how a fire had been started _"should've known" _harry told himself as Moody put out the fire.

"C'mon boy" Moody pulled harry with him outside of the house and onto the street "hold my hand" Moody told Harry and Harry took it. "what happened here?" harry heard his uncle's voice before everything went pitch black and Harry felt pressure on his chest as if being squeezed down a tube.

Then suddenly the pressure vanished and Harry found himself in a kitchen with Remus, Sirius, Dumbledore and bunch of other people, all more shocked than him at seeing each other and Moody said "welcome to number 12 Grimmauld place Potter"

Harry spent half an hour listening to Dumbledore talk with Moody as Sirius explained him about the order. Most of it was the same as what Ron had said except for one added detail. "This time Voldemort is after an advantage" Sirius told him "he's after a weapon that he didn't have before, a very dangerous weapon that could potentially give him control of the whole war."

"What is it?" harry asked intrigued "I can't tell you" Sirius told Harry who glared at him "sorry but you're too young to know about this" Harry opened his mouth to give Sirius his piece of mind but was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Harry" the aged headmaster called the boy "it seems the wards around your aunt's house were not strong enough to protect you, as such I believe that it is best you stay here at Grimmauld place for the rest of the summer, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will be joining you shortly" harry nodded while smirking internally, it seemed Ron's plan had worked out in the end.

**XXXXXXX**

"Thanks Uncle Mark" Ron thanked his uncle as he climbed into his room "You're welcome Ron! And just for the record I'm your great uncle" Uncle Mark told Ron as he vanished the rope he had created to let Ron climb into his room.

"I know that but great uncle Marcus is a mouthful, so uncle Mark" Ron retorted as uncle Mark chuckled, Ron peeked out of the room to see if anyone was there and found the coast clear, "good night uncle Mark" Ron wished his uncle turning to leave the room.

"before you go" uncle Mark said stopping Ron in his tracks "I've scheduled for you to meet your betrothed this Saturday."

**XXXXXXX**

"Saturday? Seriously?" Tracey Davis asked her best friend whose face was buried in a pillow; Tracey had light olive skin and black hair. "What am I gonna do?" Daphne screamed in despair. Tracey had come to visit her friend for the holidays on that very day.

"You could just meet him" Astoria suggested, she was a year younger than Daphne, with shoulder length black hair and a smaller build than that of a girl her age. "he's Ron Weasley" Daphne spoke as if talking to a small child.

"Is that so?" Astoria asked sarcastically making Tracey giggle and Daphne chuck a pillow at him "but seriously don't judge him before you even meet him okay?" Daphne sighed "I'll try"

Astoria got up from Daphne's bed "with that being said, goodnight you two, and don't start making love to each other" both the fifteen year olds threw pillow at the brunette as she rushed out of the door.


	2. Chapter 2

"So you're getting married to Daphne Greengrass, whether you want to or not?" Hermione asked slowly wondering if she had heard correctly, "yes" Ron answered sullenly, he was explaining the contract to his siblings and Hermione.

"But that's crazy" Ginny protested, "yes, yes it is" Ron agreed "but there's nothing I can do about it right now" he then glanced at Harry, Fred and George snickering in the corner "and not a word from you three" the three tried to pull off an innocent look but failed completely.

"So what now?" Ginny asked Ron who sighed and answered "well, I'm meeting her tomorrow so I can get to know her" Hermione got up from her seat "I'm going to look through the library for a way out of this contract for you" she told Ron and turned around and walked away as the others stared at her back.

"Shouldn't we tell her that there is now way out?" Fred asked to which Ron answered "let her be, she doesn't listen to anyone once she gets like that" "I'm sorry for you mate" George patted Ron on the shoulder.

"Yeah, me too" Fred added and the two left the room, leaving only Ron, Harry and Ginny. "Have fun on your date" Ginny told Ron who only scowled at her. Once only Harry and Ron were left Ron spoke "hey Harry"

"Yeah mate?" Ron seemed hesitant "I-I need to borrow some money" Harry raised an eyebrow, Ron never asked him for money, he was always too prideful for that, "how much?" Harry questioned curious "how much do you see fit?" Ron asked back making Harry frown.

"Stop playing games with me, what do you need it for" Harry asked testily to which Ron replied sullenly "well it's my first date with her and I want to be to pay for it"

Harry smiled brightly "you haven't even met her and already she's cut down your pride in half, I think I'm going to like her" Ron cradled his head in his hands as Harry laughed like a maniac.

**XXXXXXX**

Ron took a deep breath as he approached Fortescue's ice cream parlour. He was wearing his best clothes that Ginny had picked out for him, his hair had been styled by fleur and he was holding a bouquet of roses with roses of assorted colours, namely red, white and orange; his father had conjured it for him after dropping him off at the alley, he was also wearing a watch given to him by uncle Marcus before he had left for America.

Ron approached the ice cream parlour, observing the tables on the outside, looking for the girl sitting alone. He finally spotted a blonde girl of his age sitting alone, Ron knew that Daphne was blonde from the few times he'd seen her around school, but hadn't been able to remember the rest of her face.

Ron approached the girl and saw her look up and recognize him. "Daphne Greengrass?" Ron asked as she got up from her seat. "Ron Weasley" Daphne said, it was a statement rather than a question. Ron looked at Daphne, she was wearing jeans and a grey sweater with a blue scarf which seemed to bring out the colours of her eyes _"she doesn't really have the face you can forget" _Ron told himself wondering how he hadn't noticed her beauty before.

"Hi!" Ron said shaking hands with her "these are for you" he held out the bouquet which Daphne accepted and smelled. "These are beautiful" Daphne told Ron as the two of them sat down. Daphne gave Ron a once over, Ron was wearing a white t-shirt with an unbuttoned blue and gray chequered shirt

Daphne hadn't really paid much attention to him in school; she had of course heard the rumours about the adventures he, Potter and Granger had gotten into but hadn't really pondered about how much of it was true.

"So..." Ron said bring Daphne back to the present "anything catch you interest?" Daphne looked through the menu quickly "the vanilla panna cotta looks nice, what about you?" she asked Ron who answered "I think I'll just have a strawberry sorbet"

Ron called the waiter and gave their order, after which the two of them looked at anything but each other in awkward silence. "So what are your hobbies?" Ron asked trying to break the ice.

"Well, I paint a lot, I enjoy reading..." Ron nodded thinking internally _"So far that's a zero on the similarities chart" _Ron then asked "what's your favourite quidditch team?" Daphne shrugged "I'm not really a big fan of sports"

Ron took a deep breath taking it in stride _"this is going to be tough" _their order soon arrived and the two ate their treats in silence. _"This has to be the most awkward date in history" _Ron screamed mentally.

"So what about you?" Daphne asked Ron "what are your hobbies?" Ron thought about it for a moment "well I enjoy playing chess, I like quidditch and I also tend to get into trouble a lot" Daphne giggled and Ron grinned in relief _"finally a breakthrough" _

Ron continued to pursue various subjects such as dreams and future plans and kept finding ways to make Daphne laugh, "you're a really funny person Ron" Daphne giggled; the two of them were strolling through Diagon alley.

"Thank you Daphne" Ron replied, he then looked at the sky and noticed the waning light _"I can't believe it's so late" _"it's getting rather late isn't?" Ron murmured to which Daphne nodded "we should get going, our parents are probably worried about us" Ron nodded before a though struck him

"How will you be getting home?" Ron asked Daphne who answered "I'll be using the floo powder, so you don't have to worry about someone attacking me" she grinned as Ron turned a bright shade of red "w-well then let's go" Ron stammered trying to evade the bait.

Ron led Daphne towards the floo crates "thank you for a wonderful date" Daphne told Ron who smiled and answered "you're welcome" Daphne stepped into the crate and threw a pinch of floo powder "Greengrass manor" just as the flames rose, Ron stepped up and kissed Daphne on the cheek.

The last thing Daphne saw before green flames engulfed her vision was Ron's red face. "Daphne" Mary Greengrass noticed her daughter stepping out of the green fire, "how was the date? What was he like? Did he treat you nicely?..."

"The date was fine ma" Daphne answered and rushed up to her room and closed the door behind her. _"He kissed me" _Daphne turned red just thinking about it, she touched her cheek where he had kissed her.

"Daphne?" she heard her sisters voice "are you in there?" "yeah" Daphne conceded letting her sister into her room, Astoria entered and held Daphne by the shoulders "are you okay? Mom told me you seemed unhappy, did he try anything with you? I'll kill the damn bast..." she was stopped mid sentence by Daphne who placed a finger on her sister's lips.

"It's nothing like that" Daphne murmured, only Ron kissed me on the cheek" Daphne turned red again, "is that it?" Astoria deadpanned, "a kiss on the cheek and you're red already? What will you do when the two of you "y'know"

Daphne gave her sister a slight shove "shut up" Daphne admonished her then her expression reflected melancholy, "the thing is that... during the date I put up a front of being gentle and mature and stuff, so I think I might have given him the wrong idea."

Astoria laughed "well it was only the first date, besides I'm sure he was hiding some things as well"

"You really think so?" Daphne asked quietly to which Astoria nodded "I bet he's actually a total lecher" Astoria laughed as Daphne turned red and shouted "OUT"

**XXXXXXX**

Ron flooed over to Grimmauld place in a sullen mood "I'm ho..." Ron's words died in his mouth when he saw the entire order seated around the dining room. "Weasley what are you doing here?" Snape demanded from beside Dumbledore, "I was out" Ron answered bewildered by seeing the sudden gathering.

"Go up to your room Ron" Mrs. Weasley told Ron and Ron decided it was best to obey her with Snape and McGonagall glaring at him. Ron rushed up to his room to see Harry, Hermione and his siblings sitting in the room.

"What happened?" Ron asked to which Hermione answered "Harry was attacked by two dementors"

"WHAT?" Ron shouted "when did that happen?"

"This evening" Harry answered "I was returning with Mrs. Weasley from her trip to the muggle supermarket for food, we decided to go to the muggle supermarket since it was closer, that's when the dementors attacked, there were two of them so I casted a patronus and drove them away, but then I received a letter about the improper use of magic office about it, but Mrs. Weasley dragged me to the ministry and gave her statement and Dumbledore came as well and the whole thing was sorted so I wasn't expelled"

"But for two dementors to attack you in the middle of the street in London..." Ron trailed of "that's what worries us" Hermione told Ron as Harry added "more than that, Fudge now knows that I was in London and is getting curious as to where I live, this is going to be problematic for the order and especially Sirius"

"Oh" Ron said as Harry wilted, "it wasn't your fault Harry" Hermione told him bracingly to which Harry gave her an incredulous look "I know it wasn't my fault" he snapped his green eyes blazing "but I'm still worried about the consequences"

"Okay" Hermione told him timidly, the six of them then sat down in silence wondering how they could help in such a situation, after almost an hour, Mrs. Weasley's voice was heard "kids, come down for supper"

Fred and George slowly got up from their places and headed for the door followed by Hermione and Ginny, "are you two coming?" Hermione asked her best friends

"In a minute" Harry told her to which Hermione nodded and looked at Ron, who also said "in a minute" Hermione then have Ron a look that said _"give Harry his space" _to which Ron gave her a _"fuck you" _look.

"Fine" Hermione huffed and left with the others, "so how was your date?" Harry asked Ron who groaned and replied "I kissed her on the cheek just as she stepped into the floo" Harry stared at Ron "and saw her leave without giving a proper reaction"

Harry gave a snort which turned into a full blown laughter "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Ron shouted at Harry whose stomach was starting to hurt, "Man you're going to give me some real amusement this year" Harry commented to which Ron gave him the bird,

"Let's go down or the twins won't leave anything for us" the two boys got up from their places and headed to the dining room, "took you long enough" Mrs. Weasley admonished the two boys as they helped themselves with roast beef, mashed potatoes and sausages.

"I really wish there was something we could do to help" Ginny complained to the adults around the table, namely Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Remus, Kingsley, Bill, Tonks, fleur and Mudungus Fletcher.

"You're too young to be in the order" Mrs. Weasley told Ginny angrily "but can't we help in any other way?" Hermione asked earnestly to which Ron rolled his eyes,

"Well you could help by suggesting a way to divert the ministry's attention from us here" Sirius chuckled jokingly "Sirius" Mrs. Weasley glared at him

"Relax molly" Mr. Weasley intervened "it's not like they don't know about it already" Ron sighed, frustrated by the conversation "too bad Harry doesn't live in London, or else that would've served as a plausible excuse" Fred joked

Ron then noticed Harry's hands stopped moving and looked at his face, the redhead noticed the expression and felt a chill run down his spine. _"I got a bad feeling about this" _he whined silently as his best friend stared into space.

"Let me get this straight" Sirius said "you want to buy an apartment and pretend to live in there just to throw off the ministry?"

"Yes" Harry replied calmly, they had finished their dinner and were just lounging around when Harry had proposed his plan. "That doesn't make sense" Tonks lied to which Ron replied "actually it does, this could divert the attention of both the ministry and death eaters from here"

"And towards Harry" Kingsley countered to which Harry replied "...and pull them in a trap" "NO!" Mrs. Weasley said "this is too dangerous for a fifteen year old alone"

"But Harry won't be there alone" Ron stated making everyone turn to him "Harry and Professor Moody both have invisibility cloaks, we could have two people stationed in the apartment invisible, who would be there protect Harry, also I'll be there as well"

There was an instant uproar as all the Weasley's, Sirius and Hermione protested at the notion, but everyone shut up when Remus banged his hand on the table. "While crazy and dangerous, this plan has its fare share of merits and demerits. I think we should just run it by Dumbledore and let him make the decision"

And with that the argument had come to an end, "fine then" Mrs. Weasley said and got up from her chair and headed towards the door "but I doubt Dumbledore would agree to such an outrageous plan"

Slowly everyone left the doom until only Harry and Ron were left. "You don't plan on waiting for Dumbledore's approval, do you?" Ron stated to which Harry shook his head "I'm going to go ahead and buy the apartment and make a big show of it, forcing his hand. Ron laughed "you're planning to go against a dragon, be prepared to get burnt"

**XXXXXXX**

"beautiful view, isn't it" Harry asked standing in front of the floor to ceiling window of his new penthouse apartment, "yes it is" Ron agreed from the sofa "but don't stand so close to the window, you might be down even before the fight breaks out" "Ron's right" Moody's voice came from one of the corners, he and Kingsley were guarding Harry and Ron.

Dumbledore had agreed to the plan on the condition that Ron and Harry carried portkey's that would bring them back to Grimmauld place as soon as the fighting started and let the order apparate into the penthouse. Although Hermione and Ginny wanted to come as well, Dumbledore felt that it would be too many people to get out of the house easily, and give the death eaters a greater variety of victims.

The two boys spent the night in the living room, doing all kinds of stuff, hoping the death eaters would take the bait. Harry had made a big show of getting the apartment and he was sure Snape had also told the death eaters about his apartment.

It was nearing midnight and Ron was getting impatient "I don't think the death eaters will attack tonight" Ron told Harry after their twelfth exploding snap game. "I guess you're right" Harry agreed

"Still, me and moody will be staying guard here for tonight" Kinsley told the two boys. The two aurors hadn't taken off the invisibility cloak all night. "Don't push yourself too hard" Harry muttered and switched off the lights as they headed to the room and then felt it.

"What was that?" Ron asked unnerved, he had felt some sort of magic rise around him, "it's an anti apparition ward" Moody snarled, "You two boys get out of here" the boys pulled out their portkey marbles as the windows crashed open at that very moment.

Expelliarmus came multiple shouts and Ron's portkey flew out of his hands. There was a flash of light as Harry was whisked away and Ron jumped behind the couch. Kinsley and moody attacked the death eaters who seemed to have a disillusionment charm on them when Ron got an idea, he jumped out from behind the couch and shouted "LUMOS MAXIMA" the light from his wand blinded the death eaters as their shadows appeared on the walls and the two aurors were able to take them down.

Before anyone could say anything, three more death eaters came flying towards the window as the doors burst open and five death eaters poured into the room. "Surrender" one of the death eaters shouted, but before any of them could reply, the order appeared via the portkey and utter pandemonium ensured.

"Ron" Mr Weasley grabbed him and handed him a marble. Ron felt a tug in his navel as he was whisked away and fell on the floor of Grimmauld place's dining room. "Are you okay?" Hermione asked him worriedly as Fred helped Ron up.

"We were really worried about you when you hadn't come with Harry" George conceded as Ginny hugged him.

"I'm fine" Ron assured his friends and siblings, he then proceeded to tell them about what had happened, after almost half an hour, the rest of the order appeared, "what happened?" Harry asked them and Remus answered "we weren't able to capture anyone but we managed to chase them away"

Harry groaned as the other children helped the hurt order members, "we need to call Poppy" moody stated and professor Flitwick floo called the school nurse who arrived moments later,

"Dear god what happened" the matron demanded upon seeing the members of the order, Hermione explained the situation to her and Ron whispered to Harry "we should've taken an insurance on the house" Harry smirked

"we can repair it, plus you might now have a place to consummate your marriage before taking the vows" on turned red and Harry laughed silently

**XXXXXXX**

It had been a few weeks after the disastrous battle, Harry had completely moved into his apartment and Ron was here almost every day, the order got a room on the floor below the penthouse and took turns staying there, there were also a large number of protective wards around Harry's and the order's apartments.

Ron took a deep breath as he approached the apartment, he had told his parents that he was going to Harry's apartment and had flooed there after which he took an underground train to a station two blocks away and had walked the rest of the distance.

Ron took a deep breath as he approached the door. Ron knocked on the door feeling his heart thumping into his chest.

The door opened and Ron greeted the surprised man "hello Percy" to which the bespectacled redhead responded "Ron- what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you" Ron told Percy and Percy let him in "is it about Harry?" Percy asked calmly to which Ron answered "him and my betrothal contract" Percy raised an eyebrow so Ron explained everything from the visit of their uncle Marcus to the attack on Harry by dementors.

"I had heard about the attack" Percy conceded "it was all over the ministry, madam bones seemed quite impressed by his ability to cast a corporeal patronus at such a young age"

Ron leaned forward from his seat "his ability aside, you know that the dementors are under the guidance of the ministry, so either they have revolted or there is a traitor within the ministry, you must have seen how often Malfoy has been visiting the minister, you must have noticed the signs and changes even if you don't believe harry"

Percy sighed and put down the Firewhiskey glass he was holding "regardless, I've walked out on our family, there is no forgiving that" Ron laughed and said "regardless of how we act or what we do family is family, and there is nothing that can change that"

Ron got up and walked towards the door, "you are a Weasley and you cannot escape that no matter how far you go" Ron opened the door and was startled by the sight of Penelope Clearwater who seemed to have been about to knock and equally startled

"hello Penelope" Ron greeted her and stood aside to let her in "goodbye Penelope" he added and walked away closing the door behind him. "what was that about" Penelope asked Percy, hoping he had finally agreed to go back to his family, for which she had been urging him ever since he had walked out.

"my brother is growing up, that's all" Percy answered smiling peacefully as he stared at the door.


	3. Chapter 3

"Goodbye you guys take care" Percy wished farewell to his siblings and their friends boarded the Hogwarts express, Percy was really glad that his brother had talked some sense into him, his family and the order had forgiven him rather easily after a huge apology from Percy's part and agreeing to all the bad things Fred had called him.

And although Dumbledore accepted him into the order and most of them seemed to trust him, there were still some scathing remarks from the twins and Ginny but Ron, Harry and Bill would always tell them off, his mother had forgiven him and was doting on him, but his father had seemed the most happy when Percy had bowed his head in front of him in shame and had been the first to hug him.

Percy hadn't moved into the order headquarters, he was still pretending to be against his family in order to hold onto his position near Fudge and keep tabs on him as per Dumbledore's orders, he had been able to supply the order with quite a bit of information about the ministry's current affairs that even Dumbledore didn't have access to, all in all Percy was glad to be on the right side again.

**XXXXXXX**

Ron walked with Hermione to the prefects meeting; he walked into the prefect carriage and was surprised to see that Daphne was there too; apparently she had been made the Slytherin prefect along with a bored looking Draco Malfoy.

Ron also noted the prefects of Hufflepuff were Susan Bones and Ernie MacMillan while the Ravenclaw house was being represented by Terry Boot and Padma Patil. "Okay prefects" the head boy, whose name Ron didn't know, caught their attention "gather round while I explain you your duties"

Ron sat down between Hermione and Ernie as the head boy explained the duties, but Ron was only half listening glancing at Daphne who seemed to be listening to the prefect, sometimes their eyes would meet and Ron would look away blushing only to look back at her again.

"the schedule's for the prefects patrols will be pinned in the common room notice board" the head boy said bringing Ron's attention back to him the prefects were then dismissed. The prefects got up from their seats and headed towards the door, Ron was just a step behind Daphne with Hermione talking on about something he wasn't listening to.

Suddenly Daphne stopped and Ron bumped into her, "sorry" he muttered trying to not look her in the eyes. "It's okay" Daphne said and Ron felt her hand by his side pocket and walked away. Ron and Hermione searched the compartments for harry, having finally found him in one with Ginny, Neville and a girl called Luna Lovegood.

"So how was the meeting?" harry asked his two friends to whom Hermione replied "it was fine, we were assigned our schedules and our duties were explained to us."

Ron smiled and sat beside harry, discreetly passing him a note, harry covered it with the palm of his hand and read it

_Meet me in the west corridor on the fifth floor at nine o'clock tonight_

_Daphne_

Harry looked at Ron who gave him a nervous smile making harry smile at him "I'm nervous and kinda worried" Ron confided to harry while Hermione was debating with Luna and Ginny and Neville were watching them.

"Don't be" harry told him "what's the worst that could happen?"

**XXXXXXX**

Ron crept down to the west corridor of the fifth floor, it was five minutes to nine, he looked around hoping to see some sign of his fiancée. Ron caught a flash of blonde hair on the far side of the corridor and crept towards it; he turned the corner and saw Daphne waiting for him looking around. Ron grinned evilly as he sneaked up behind her and took of the invisibility cloak harry had given him.

"Hi" Ron's greeting made Daphne jump in the air "how'd you get here?" Daphne demanded after having calmed down "I walked" Ron told her hiding the cloak behind his own cloak, he wasn't ready to reveal his best friends secrets yet.

Daphne eyed him suspiciously, but Ron kept a straight face "okay" Daphne finally said making Ron smile and hug her, Daphne's face flushed as she went rigid at the sudden contact and even though Ron felt slightly embarrassed he wasn't ready to back off.

"I missed you" he told her and Daphne's face turned back to normal "you're just trying to make me embarrassed aren't you?" it wasn't really a question on her part.

"You look cute when you get embarrassed" Ron agreed making Daphne punch him in the arm. "So why did you want to meet secretly at night?" Ron asked Daphne who turned serious.

"I...I think we should keep our betrothal a secret for now" Daphne told Ron apprehensively, worried about his reaction.

"I think so too" Ron agreed surprising Daphne "if news about our betrothal got out it would cause a lot of problems from other Slytherin's insulting you to other guys asking me dirty questions about you, and also there will be a lot of people who will be against a Gryffindor and Slytherin getting married"

Daphne blinked not believing that Ron Weasley had given their situation so much thought, Ron seeing her astonished look told her "I've been told all of this by Percy"

"Ahhh!" Daphne said as if everything in the world made sense again.

Ron smiled "congratulations on becoming a prefect" Daphne smiled back "same to you, Ron" Ron grinned "so how is it being a prefect with Malfoy?" Daphne rolled her eyes "its fine okay, he's not that bad, how's being Granger's co-prefect treating you?"

"I let her do the work and bask in the glory of being a prefect" Daphne punched him on the arm again "you're awful"

"Yes, yes I am" Ron replied making Daphne giggle.

"We should be going now" Ron told Daphne glancing at his watch "it's our first day of school tomorrow" Daphne nodded at Ron's reasoning and said "you're right"

Ron hesitated for a moment before kissing Daphne on the cheek "good night Daphne" Ron then walked in the opposite direction of Daphne. "Good night...Ron?" Daphne said and turned around only to find no one there.

"How is he doing that?" she asked herself looking around.

**XXXXXXX**

The next few days were quite frustrating for harry and by extension Ron and Hermione. Everywhere the three of them would go people would be talking about them or pointing at harry and whispering among themselves. Things only got worse after the first DADA lesson.

Harry and Ron were following Hermione towards the DADA class "what do you think Umbridge will be like?" harry asked Ron who shrugged "no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if she opened her mouth and a croak came out"

Harry sniggered silently trying to make sure Hermione didn't hear them make fun of a teacher or else she would chew their head off.

The three of them then entered the DADA room making Ron swear "Bloody hell, this place looks like a cross between Cinderella's bathroom and a cat graveyard" harry snorted loudly but Hermione didn't pay him any attention staring off at the walls covered in pink wallpaper and cat pictures.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" harry whispered to Ron who silently agreed with him. Things did not look good for them. After a few minutes Umbridge enters the room and makes all of them greet her like three year olds.

She then told the entire class "please read your text books, if you have any questions you can ask me" that's when the trouble started and it had been started by Hermione raising her hand "yes?" Umbridge asked to which Hermione answered "this book only promotes theoretical defence. What about learning spells to defend yourself?"

"My dear girl" Umbridge simpered "what would you need to defend yourself against?"

"Voldemort" harry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, making umbrage twist her face into something uglier "you will raise your hand in my class" she simpered and harry raised his hand and repeated his comment.

"Voldemort has died and will not be coming back" Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice and Neville called out "what about Sirius Black?" "The ministry is trying their utmost to apprehend the criminal. He will be caught very soon, I assure you of that"

"You guys couldn't catch a hippogriff even if it sat in your front lobby" harry told Umbridge making Ron smirk.

"You dare insult the ministry..." Umbridge began "I do dare" harry interrupted her "and do you know why? It's because you people are too stupid to believe Voldemort is back"

And the fun ended with Harry being sent to McGonagall.

Ron didn't see harry again until the end of the period. "What happened?" Ron asked his friend who told him about McGonagall's warning "shit just got real" Ron commented to which harry answered "true mate, now let's hurry to charms, I don't want to face trouble twice in a day"

Ron nodded "we could go to charms class, orrr..." Ron smirked and led harry away. Soon the two boys were lying on the roof of the castle.

"Hermione's going to kill us" harry pointed out to Ron who shrugged "you were down, I was just trying to make you feel better and it took the whole class" harry laughed at this. The two boys stayed on the roof for almost an hour, talking about inconsequential subjects and figuring out the shapes of the clouds.

After some time, the two boys decided to go back to the classes, but were intercepted on their way. "Hello" a girl had appeared in front of Ron; she seemed a couple of years younger with a petite frame and black hair.

"I'm Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's sister" at this Ron seemed to turn slightly pale, harry guessed it was because he was meeting his fiancée's family member already.

"Nice to meet you" Ron choked out holding out his hand which was shaking a lot, Astoria smiled and shook his hand "same here" the brunette Slytherin replied to him smiling.

"I've heard quite a bit about you from my sister" Astoria told Ron and he turned ash white making Astoria smile "you were quite different from what I thought you would be" she told Ron seriously, but by now harry realised she was just playing with him. "You actually seem to be quite nice" she told Ron who let go of the breath he was holding.

Astoria giggled "you're easy to scare" she pointed out making Ron scowl "I wasn't scared" Ron told her making Astoria smirk "really? Because Daphne said you could be slightly more refined" Ron turned to her

"She did?" he asked Astoria making her laugh "you're too easy" she told Ron making harry comment for the first time in the conversation

"That sounded so wrong... but true" harry said making Astoria laugh even harder and Ron scowled at him "whose side are you on?" the redhead demanded making harry raise his hands in a surrender gesture.

"Anyway" Astoria bought the attention back to her "it was nice to meet you, but I need to run now, see you next time my dead brother-in-law" she called over her shoulder and walked away leaving behind an embarrassed Ron and a laughing harry.

**XXXXXXX**

Ron and harry waited until Hermione was gone to the library to discuss what they had to do. Hermione had been really angry with them for skipping class and had refused to talk to them for the rest of the day, so the two decided to not aggravate her anymore and discussed what was going to happen behind her back.

"I've got detention so I'll be busy with that" Harry told Ron reminding him about his detention with Umbridge. Rom gave him a bitter smile "good for you, I've got patrol duty with Malfoy"

Harry laughed "well Daphne did say he wasn't that bad" making Ron roll his eyes "yeah, but she isn't a Gryffindor" harry grinned and said "you'll be fine"

"I hope so" Ron said as the two of them stepped out of the common room and walked on towards their punishments.

Ron walked on towards the north tower from where they were supposed to start their patrol. Ron reached the tower to see Malfoy already standing there. "Let's get it over with" Malfoy said without preamble as he spotted Ron and walked on with Ron a step behind him.

Ron took the time to observe his companion. Draco Malfoy was almost his height now. He didn't seem to be arrogant like usual, he was in fact very quiet and seemed to have an indifferent quality about him, as if he had given up on everything and everyone.

"So how did you bribe Snape into making you prefect?" Ron sneered at Draco, the lack of hostility was getting to him, but Draco simply responded "I promised him that I would kill you"

Ron blinked not sure if Malfoy was joking or not. They continued on with the patrol, finding couples hidden in closets and such, kids sneaking around the castle and such, most of the times they would leave them with a warning, sometimes give them detention, but after some time they came across a bit of a problem.

"You need to go back to you dorms" Ron told the three burly Ravenclaw seventh years. The three of them had been hanging out in an abandoned classroom after hours, burning stuff randomly and spraying graffiti on the walls. "Or what Weasley?" one of them jeered "you gonna give us detention?" all three burst into laughter at this making Ron go red.

But before he could do anything Malfoy spoke up "I think that it's best if you three end you stupidity now before anyone, namely you three get hurt" the leader of the little trio stepped up to Malfoy "you think you can take us on?" he demanded to which Malfoy replied "of course"

The leader stepped forward and threw his fist towards Malfoy, but the blonde snake wasn't there he was right in front of the leader and punched him under the jaw, sending him sprawling. The other two got up from their places and Ron stepped forward but Malfoy held out his hand.

"They're mine" Malfoy told Ron who decided not to argue. The two thugs ran forward to attack Malfoy who jumped over them. Malfoy kicked one thug in the shin, and punched another in the face.

The leader then got up and tried to jump over Malfoy but was greeted with a foot on his throat. The leader backed away coughing a Malfoy turned to the two thugs who were recovering. The two thugs again attempted to attack Malfoy together but were once again thwarted as Malfoy kicked one guy in the stomach and rammed his elbow into the ribs of another.

Ron stared as Malfoy stood in the middle of the three fallen boys staring around waiting to see if anyone would dare to get up. Ron was pretty sure all of them were awake but were just too scared to get up and be thrown down again.

"I'm assigning a week's detention to all three of you" Malfoy called out "report to Finch's office tomorrow evening sharp at eight"

Malfoy then walked out of the room followed by Ron _"that was...surreal. Malfoy took down those burly idiots, all by himself, without the aid of magic and he hasn't made any snide remarks or comments, which means that..."_

Ron tapped Malfoy on the shoulder "what do you want?" the blonde boy asked impatiently "who are you and what planet are you from?"

Malfoy blinked "what planet? What the hell are you talking about?" Ron raised an accusing finger towards Malfoy "I want to know if your people are attempting a hostile takeover of our planet or you only kill and wear the skin of evil people"

Malfoy looked at the redhead like he had lost his mind "you think I'm an alien? What is wrong with you?"

"The real Malfoy would never be able to defeat three people singlehandedly without cheating or magic and he is racist and evil" Ron told Malfoy on his face

"Shut the fuck up weasel" Malfoy snapped "you think you're all high and mighty and shit but you're just crap, okay. Everyone has problems they have to deal with; you people aren't the only one dealing with the dark... why the fuck am I explaining this to you. You know what; I'll check the lower floors myself, just go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and tighten the loose screw in your head"

Malfoy then walked away muttering about stupid Gryffindor and their crazy ideas, Ron smirked as he watched the retreating Slytherin _"so Malfoy is worried about the return of you-know-who? That's surprising and worth investigating. Malfoy's family have been staunch supporters of you-know-who so why is Malfoy so worried about it? My life gets weirder with every school year"_

Ron then walked away running through various theories in his head, each more outrageous than the previous one.

**XXXXXXX**

Albus Dumbledore felt weary as he glanced at the potions master sitting across him discussing the allegiance of the poster boy of Slytherin. "And why do you feel that Mr. Malfoy isn't going to side with Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked Snape his blue eyes twinkling with seriousness.

"Draco spent most of the summer with the dark lord around his house and seemed fed up with the restrictions it bought him. In his rage he tended to lash out violently, he even beat up Mucliber barehanded. A feat that brings him into the dark lord's favour who sees a lot of potential in him but that attention only seems to annoy Draco further"

Dumbledore considered what Snape had told him "your observations seem to suggest that Malfoy is not happy being under Voldemort's thumb, but that also means he will not be allying with us"

Snape admitted Dumbledore's point with a nod "you are correct Albus, but I believe if offered the incentive of freedom correctly, Draco may be willing to help you under certain circumstances"

Dumbledore leaned forward from his chair "aid us from an independent position from where he will not be bound to us or anyone else?" Dumbledore guessed and Snape verified it with a curt nod. "Very well then" Dumbledore decided "make him the offer when and how you see fit"

Snape smiled at the aged headmaster and said "Draco may just be the key in manipulating the tide of the war" making the old headmaster comment wearily "let us hope so old friend! Let us hope so"


	4. Chapter 4

"So you're saying, Malfoy beat up three Ravenclaw's all by himself?" Hermione asked Ron to which the redhead nodded his head "and he said something about problems and the dark?" Harry looked sceptical as Ron nodded again.

"He didn't make any snide comments or remarks?" Ginny asked and Neville added before Ron could reply "and he didn't insult you, you family, Harry or Hermione?"

"Yes, yes, yes" Ron answered frustrated and dropped onto a chair. As madam Pince appeared round the corner and shushed him. The five of them were sitting in the library discussing whatever they felt was being weird.

Ron hadn't really paid attention to how it had happened, but Ginny and Neville had started to hang out more and more with them, they had always felt Neville was a good friend but he hadn't been a part of the group exactly because... well, they had always thought he was a bit of a dullard, but recently he had been hanging a bit around with Ginny and had helped Ron and Harry with herbology a couple of times when Hermione was angry with them for putting it off until the last second.

"We need to do something about Umbridge" Hermione brought up "she will not let us learn DADA properly, and the detentions she's been giving out are really dangerous for the students" the five friends wondered about the predicament. "What really bothers me is Percy's letter about Umbridge being made the high inquisitor; she's going to cause a lot of trouble for us by trying to impose restrictions on other teachers as well" an awkward silence had settled within the group as the five kids looked at each other, no one willing to break it.

Ron then glanced at his watch and locked eyes with Harry, then Hermione and then looked towards the door. "I think that's enough worrying for one day" Harry said as the golden trio got up from their seats "I agree" Hermione added. "We'll leave you two lovebirds alone" Ron teased his sister and Neville both vehemently denying the concept of them being in love.

Once outside of the library Hermione said "now then. Let's meet your fiancé"

Ron and Daphne had decided that since they were betrothed and dating in secret, they should meet their partner's friends and introduce their friends to each other as well, which was why Ron, Harry and Hermione were heading towards the north tower currently.

Once reaching their designation the trio saw that Daphne, Tracey and Astoria were already waiting for them. Greetings were exchanged as Ron introduced his friends to Daphne and Daphne did the same, after which an awkward silence settled over the group.

"So..."Ron drawled out hoping someone would say something, which someone did, unfortunately for him, it was directed at him "have you and Daphne 'did it' yet?" Astoria asked on which Ron turned bright red.

Daphne smacked her sister on her head blushing furiously "No" Ron answered with a surprisingly even voice "we haven't"

"Why not?" Astoria asked and was rewarded with another smack on her head. "Anyone else?" Daphne asked and was greeted with deafening silence.

"So... what have you guys been up to?" Hermione asked the Slytherin's to which Tracey replied "not much, what about you guys, what've you been doing lately?"

"Oh just wondering how Draco Malfoy was able to beat three seventh year Ravenclaw's" Harry answered casually as if oblivious to the effects of his statement.

"Any progress?" Tracey asked awkwardly as everyone tried to avoid eye contact with anyone, bringing up the mistrust between the two houses was a bold move by Harry.

"Not really but we think it may have something to do with his family" Harry answered as if discussing quidditch tactics.

"y'know" Astoria interrupted "Malfoy and his cronies seem to have had some kind of falling out" Ron looked at the three Slytherin's, none of them seemed offended at their prying into Draco Malfoy.

"What do you know about it?" Hermione asked "not much" Astoria admitted "it's all been very hush up Malfoy and his clique have been not letting any information about it get out"

"That's true" Daphne supplied "even Pansy who is the most talkative girl in our year won't say anything" "let's not discuss such serious matters" Ron spoke up hoping to direct the conversation towards some form of normalness.

"Do you know anyone whom we could pry the information out of?" Harry asked Astoria completely ignoring Ron.

"Well anyone from Malfoy's gang isn't going to say anything...so the only one who would know what's going on would be Theo Nott" Astoria answered

"Nott?" Harry murmured thoughtfully "isn't he the second smartest guy in our year?" he asked aloud and was interrupted by Ron "seriously, let's leave the sleuthing for a later date"

"he is" Hermione answered ignoring Ron who was fuming with Daphne placating him, and Tracey added "he's also the most informed guy in Slytherin, he seems to know almost everything going on within the den of snakes"

"We'll have to confront him tomorrow" Hermione decided. "Great!" Ron said sarcastically, now that that's been decided..."

"Actually" Astoria interrupted Ron "Nott had detention tonight so you might be able to capture him alone"

"Why are you people so interested in this?" Ron asked the girls exasperatedly to which Tracey replied "to be a part of one of the golden trio's infamous adventures of course"

"What?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously, caught off guard. "No time" Hermione interrupted them, "we need to find Nott"

"Yes!" Harry said jumping to his feet, "and we will" the raven haired boy ran off being followed by the others. Ro covered the distance between him and Harry and saw his best friend discreetly looking at the marauders map.

"How do we know where to find him?" Daphne asked as she ran with the crowd. "we follow the path Nott would take after his detention" Ron answered as they rushed down to the east corridor on the first floor.

"I don't think Nott would come down this path" Astoria pointed out "you sure?" Ron asked indicating towards the brown haired boy rounding the corner.

"You girls stay here" Ron told and raised his hand before any objections were voiced "we had already agreed to keep our relationship a secret" Ron directed to Daphne "being seen with Slytherin's would be a deterrent for that" he then turned to Hermione "what's about to go down may not sit well with you"

The two Gryffindor's approached the Slytherin boy from the front "hey Nott" Harry called out and was answered with "what is it pothead?" Harry sighed and asked "what's Malfoy's problem with Voldemort?"

Nott didn't finch surprisingly, and spat back "take your curiosity and shove it up your ass Potter" Nott raised his wand as did Harry and Ron. Within moments, the three boys were scuffling down on the ground.

"What are they doing?" Daphne asked watching Harry and Ron gang up on Nott "screwing things up" Hermione answered angrily.

Soon Nott was pinned on the ground by Harry and Ron "fuck you!" Nott spat at the boys.

"Look Nott" Harry spoke struggling to hold down the lashing Slytherin "if there's trouble between Malfoy and Voldemort, we can help Malfoy, we can also help you. No one wants to live under oppression and I think Malfoy's getting a taste of that. You can help us reel him in before he goes and does something to harm himself"

Nott's body tensed a bit before he finally slumped. "Draco wants out, he doesn't want to work under the dark lord, and this caused a falling out between him and Crabbe and Goyle. Right now Slytherin is caught up in a power struggle between Draco, Crabbe, Sadie Baldock and Graham Montague. That's all I know, I swear"

"Okay Nott" Ron said as he and Harry eased up from Nott's back "don't tell anyone about our business and we'll all be fine." The two boys watched Nott walked away and snuck up back towards the girls.

"Will we really help them?" Ron asked Harry about Malfoy and his crew as the two boys walked towards their female friends. "Hell, no!" Harry answered.

**XXXXXXX**

"So now that we know what's up with Malfoy" harry began after explaining everything they had heard to the girls "what was that thing Astoria mentioned about the golden trio's famous adventures?" with Ron adding "and who are these golden trio?"

Daphne gave him a deadpan look and Ron realised the answer to his question "oh" he said in a small voice.

"The golden trio adventures" Tracey answered harry "is the name given to all the rumours about you three and what you get up to, for example, there is this ridiculous rumour circulating that you can produce a corporeal patronus and that you chased off a hundred dementors using it"

"That one's true" harry said shocking the three girls, "I learnt how to cast a patronus in my third year, it became corporeal during the end of the year and that's when I chased away a hundred dementors"

"Is it true that when you defeated the troll in the first year, you tamed it into becoming your pet and have him hidden in the forbidden forest where you visit and feed him?" Astoria asked eagerly

"False on both accounts" harry replied "Ron was the one who knocked out the troll and we never saw it after that" the here girls turned to Ron who looked embarrassed.

They went on to discuss various rumours of such sort, from harry having an evil twin, to Ron being the seventh son of a seventh son and being super powerful to Hermione having an IQ of over 500 and having already completed her N.E.W.T's and only staying in school to be with her friends. After almost half an hour the three friends and one sister left the betrothed couple for some quality time and headed to their dorms.

"Well, that was fun" Ron told Daphne who smiled and said "it sure was, I'm beginning to see you in a whole different light" Ron smirked and added "next time, let's discuss your adventures" Daphne giggled but fell silent when Ron cupped he cheek.

The two stared into each other's eyes before Ron bowed his head and kissed Daphne on the lips. Ron moved his hand to her hips and pulled her closer, Daphne responded by wrapping her hands around Ron he two continued making out until both were out of breath.

"Wow" Ron said and Daphne shared his sentiments but was too out of breath to say anything. As their breathing evened out the two realised the massive step they had taken. "Um" Ron's face was beet red as was Daphne's "w-well" Ron stuttered once again

"Good night" Daphne squeaked and Ron answered in kind after which Daphne bolted away and Ron walked back to his house tower in a trance, he felt elevated and embarrassed, joyful and scared. Things had escalated to a level he hadn't felt before.

In that moment they hadn't been two people bound by a contract. They had become two people in a relationship.

**XXXXXXX**

Harry and Hermione entered the common room and saw that it was completely empty "finally" a voice came from the fireplace "I thought you people had gone to bed"

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed as he and Hermione kneeled in front of the fireplace "what are you doing?" Hermione asked the innocent convict who answered "this was the only way to answer Harry's letter other than codes, and codes can be broken"

Hermione glared at harry accusingly "you didn't tell me about any letter" "I forgot" harry answered and it was true. He had written a letter to Sirius after his scar had hurt when Umbridge had touched him during detention and he had written a letter to Sirius about it, but had forgotten about the letter due to his encounter with Cho Chang.

"Now" Sirius intervened "about your scar hurting, it was pure coincidence that Umbridge touched you when it did, Voldemort was simply feeling a strong emotion. It's bound to hurt more now that he's back"

"So you don't think she's a death eater?" harry asked disappointed, he was hoping that she was one so that the order could attack her. "she's foul enough to be one"

Sirius laughed at Harry's comment "I know you wish she was but the world isn't divided in black and white, sometimes even the foulest, most sadistic of god's children can fight for the right reasons...but she is quite a bit of a racist...not against muggleborns" he said seeing harry and Hermione's expression "she has a hatred for half-breeds, she has made it impossible for Remus to get a job at all"

"She's horrible" Hermione added

"That she is" Sirius agreed "but she's not a death eater, also be careful, now that she's being made the Hogwarts high inquisitor, she's bound to make more trouble" Sirius warned his godson, referring to the information provided by Percy.

"I'll try" harry smirked as Sirius laughed and disappeared. Then Ron entered the room looking dazed "what happened" harry asked to which Ron looked at him and Hermione leaning in front of the fireplace and said "you tell me"

Harry filled in Ron about his conversation with Sirius and in return Ron told him and Hermione about his progress with Daphne. "well good for you Ronald" Hermione told him "it's nice that you are maturing with your relationship"

"yeah well I'll remember that tomorrow when we see Umbridge and try not to punch her in the face" harry and Ron laughed at the joke while Hermione tried to scold them.

**XXXXXXX**

Within a few days it had become blatantly obvious that Dolores Umbridge had been sent to Hogwarts to spy on Dumbledore. She would snoop around the classes of the teachers and scribble stuff down her little notepad.

She was present in their divination class where she harassed Trelawney, in their transfiguration class where McGonagall ignored her and in care of magical creatures (CMC) where Malfoy complained about Hagrid who was on leave and she seemed to prefer professor Grubby-Plank.

By the end of the day harry was physically and mentally exhausted. He then shuddered, because when he walked into the common room he saw Ron and Hermione talking and they seem to be agreeing on something _"this can't be good" _harry decided as he approached his friends.

"Take a seat harry" Hermione told him and harry did as told feeling he needed to sit down, "we've been talking" Ron began "that since Umbridge refuses to teach us how to defend ourselves, we need someone else to teach us how to fight"

Harry nodded, his friends reasoning was sound "and we were thinking you could teach us" Ron added to which harry promptly replied "no"

"You're the only one among us who has had experience in fighting against the dark forces, plus your title as the boy-who-lived, which I know you hate, but would be useful none the less, would attract people to learn under you. You have been able to make a corporeal patronus since you've been thirteen, how many people can boast that?"

Harry stared his best friend right in the eye "whenever I took on the dark forces, I always had help or luck by my side, I'm not qualified to teach people" Ron stared right back into his friends green eyes "everyone here has help in the form of friends and family like you do, as for luck, I'd rather give them a fighting chance than just rely on luck and you're the only one who can do that"

Hermione intervened before harry could answer "please at least consider the option harry, that's all we're asking" "fine" harry sighed as he went to his room.

A few feet away Ginny was prodding Neville "Harry's left and it looks like Ron is going as well, now's your chance" Ginny had deduced that Neville had a crush on Hermione and had decided to help him win her heart.

"I don't think I'm ready yet" Neville told her to which Ginny answered "c'mon Neville, you're always like this. You need to man up and walk over to her and ask her out... or not" Ginny amended as Hermione seemed to be walking towards them.

"This is it" the redhead whispered to the round face boy who gulped

**XXXXXXX**

Astoria was carrying her big pile of books towards the common room when someone bumped into her "hey!" she cried out indignantly "watch it"

"Sorry" Draco Malfoy answered without breaking stride "hey come back and help me pick up my books" she called Malfoy who stopped and turned around to glare at her. "Stop staring and help me" the brunette girl demanded her hands on her hips.

"Fine!" Draco said and began picking up the books "well thank you" Astoria said sarcastically as the two began collecting the books.

**XXXXXXX**

"Are you sure about this Uncle Marcus?" Mr. Weasley asked the aged man sitting in front of him who nodded his head "I've never had children of my own, but I really like your children and feel that I should give them something"

"If you're sure about it then fine uncle. I just pray it won't come to that" Mr. Weasley said making Uncle Marcus smile fondly

"so do I my dear boy" the ancient man told his nephew "so do I"


End file.
